He might not be widely held in the same esteem as many of his former premiership teammates, but Ash McGrath’s longevity in the game will see him rightly go down as one of the Lions’ greats.

A brief look into the Club’s history helps understand the magnitude of his contribution.

A total of 1,402 players have played a senior match throughout the Club’s combined 127-year history (including Fitzroy and the Bears) – 149 of which have played in 100 or more games.

But only 26 – which accounts for less than 2% of the total players – have managed to reach 200 games.

McGrath will join this incredibly exclusive group this Sunday when he lines up for his 200^th match against Geelong at the Gabba.

He also joins rare company as just the 10^th player to reach 200 games with the Lions since the 1997 merger.

Should McGrath feature in every senior match for the remainder of the 2013 season, he will move into equal 6^th position on the post-merger games tally, alongside Brownlow Medallists Michael Voss and Jason Akermanis who both represented the Brisbane Lions 210 times.

The 30-year-old already holds the honour of playing more games than any other player throughout the Club's history in the Number 9 guernsey – ahead of former Fitzroy Captain and two-time Best and Fairest Matthew Rendell (164 games) and goal-kicking star Jim Freake (135 games).

McGrath’s performances in recent seasons also suggest that he’s far from being finished. It could even be argued that he’s been in career best form over the past four campaigns.

He’s finished no lower than 18^th in the Merrett-Murray voting over the past six years, and has appeared in the top 10 on three occasions (2009-11).

So while he’s yet to claim the Club’s highest individual honour, his contribution at both ends of the field is widely recognised and valued by his team.

Lions fans are encouraged to help make McGrath’s milestone match a memorable one by packing out the Gabba this Sunday and supporting the team against the second-placed Cats.  

MOST LIONS GAMES (SINCE 1997 MERGER)

*Still playing